Curet Alonso, Tite

Catalino “Tite” Curet Alonso, was born on 12 Febuary 1926 in Guayama and raised in the Barrio Obrero section of Santurce. His father was a Spanish teacher and a musician with the orchestra of SimÃ³n Madera.

In 1968 he began his career as a professional songwriter with the song La Tirana, a tune recorded by Lupe Victoria Yoli, better known “La Lupe”. La Lupe brought international fame to the song and Curet went on to become an internationally respected composer, musicologist, and journalist.

Curet Alonso’s music has won countless awards at international music festivals in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Paraguay and he has gained recognition as Puerto Rico’s best composer. He was named best Latin American composer for two consecutive years by the Record World Magazine, but perhaps most telling is the sheer popularity among so many great performers and music fans of all age groups.

Curet set himself the enviviable task of writing songs in many, musically diverse genres, such as the famous bolero, Tiemblas, here sung by Gilberto Santa Rosa. But he proved himself equally adept at writing salsa as a Puerto Rican danza. His compositions were steeped in native Puerto Rican musical styles and themes but they have paid off well for many singers known for interpreting non-Puerto Rican musical genres.

Curiously enough, Curet worked for the United States Postal Service for more than three decades, although he has also worked as a journalist, in addition to his composing. His compositions can also be heard in other media besides music recordings and concerts. His compositions have been featured in musical scores of films such as Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and United States film-maker Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather II” and others.

Curet has also been heard on Broadway. He spent four months helping Paul Simon research the music for Simon’s short-lived Broadway musical The Capeman, starring Puerto Rican artists Marc Anthony and Ednita Nazario. But Curet insists that Simon was only interested in adding a slight Latin tint to his own sound, rather than engaging in co-composing which would have given the production an authentic Afro-Latin sound.